


the sky has finally opened

by Fives (janfives90)



Series: ain't going out like that [7]
Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, warnings: references to child abuse, weird west au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24850717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: “I’m scared.”“That’s okay. It’s better to have a healthy fear of what we can do than to be reckless. Just don’t let it take over.”The flame grows, just a little, and Alyssa tenses. “Shit. Shit. Em-”“Shh. You’re alright. You’re okay.”
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Series: ain't going out like that [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1500725
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	the sky has finally opened

Emma grips Alyssa’s wrist and moves her hand lower, her breathing slow and tight. “Just relax,” she whispers in her ear.

Alyssa swallows, staring at the flame in her outstretched palm. “Easy for you to say. You’re not holding fire.”

“I do it all the time. You’re okay. Nothing’s wrong. Bring it down a bit. Center it. It’s in control. You’re in control.”

“I’m scared.”

“That’s okay. It’s better to have a healthy fear of what we can do than to be reckless. Just don’t let it take over.”

The flame grows, just a little, and Alyssa tenses. “Shit. Shit. Em-”

“Shh. You’re alright. You’re okay.” Emma presses a kiss to Alyssa’s cheek and lets go of her wrist, sliding her hand under Alyssa’s to support it. “Focus. Put it out. You can do it. Just focus.”

Alyssa closes her eyes and takes in a breath before narrowing her eyes and focusing on the flame. It grows for a moment before shrinking until it extinguishes completely.

She sighs and relaxes, leaning her weight against Emma. “Fuck. I didn’t like that.”

“I know.” Emma links her fingers with Alyssa’s and lets their hands drop. “It’s okay. You don’t need to do it. You just need to know how. Some basics of magic can be easily set off when we’re upset, and it’s important that we can bring them back in if that happens.”

“How are you so good at all of this? You never said how long you’ve been using magic.”

Emma gives half a shrug. “First time I noticed, I was seven. The pastor’s horse was trapped in a lake, and without even really thinking about it, I made the ground move under her hooves and helped her get out. I was so young that I didn’t even think about running inside and telling him what I had done.”

Alyssa closes her eyes. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”

“No, not physically, he didn’t beat me or anything. But he, uh, he locked me in a shed behind the church for a week. It wasn’t that bad, but it sure taught me not to speak of magic in front of him.”

“Where the hell were your parents?”

Emma takes a step back, her hand slipping out of Alyssa’s as she leans her hand against the old abandoned barn they’re stopped at. “The pastor was my father, Lys.”

“Oh, Emma,” she whispers.

“It’s… I don’t care. I went to live with my grandmother when he decided that it was too much of a risk to his reputation to keep me around, and I was a lot happier there. But I’ve had to learn magic all on my own, and that’s a scary thing to do. I’m glad that I can take some of that burden off of you.”

“I’m glad that I have you, too.” Alyssa cups Emma’s face in her hands and kisses her, then skims her touch up to card her fingers in Emma’s hair before kissing her again. “Emma,” she murmurs against Emma’s lips. “Can I ask you something?”

“Mm.” Emma rests her forehead against Alyssa’s. “Mhm.”

“When we were talking to my father… something you said… I just… I wasn’t sure if you really…”

Emma kisses her to silence her. “I love you.”

Alyssa’s breath catches in her throat. She grabs her by the suspenders and backs her up until she bumps into the barn, pinning her against it as she kisses her.

Emma laughs as the kiss breaks. “You keep pushing me against things, Greene. I told you that I’d start to think it means something.”

“I love you,” Alyssa breathes. “I love you, too.”

Emma grins and brushes her nose against Alyssa’s, teasing. “Well. I guess it  _ does _ mean something.”

* * *

“There it is,” Alyssa says quietly, stopping her horse when Edgewater comes into view.

“I hope you have a plan.”

“I do.” Alyssa gives Emma a strained smile. “You’re not going to like it.”

* * *

“Th’s’s’a  _ b’d pl’n,” _ Emma mumbles through her own bandana, wrapped around her mouth as a gag as she stumbles up the steps of the sheriff’s office with her hands tied behind her back with rope.

“It is  _ not _ a bad plan,” Alyssa insists in a whisper, guiding Emma forward with one hand, Emma’s revolver in the other. “The only way I can talk to the sheriff is if he’s not focused on you, and the only way I can do that with you being safe is if nobody can find you and shoot you while I’m working on getting you out of this mess. You said that you trust me, so be quiet and trust me.”

Emma mutters something into the gag that Alyssa is pretty sure is multiple inventive curses, but she can’t quite hear them through the fabric.

“I love you, too,” Alyssa says, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

She opens the door to the sheriff’s office and walks them inside, feeling relief when she sees the sheriff sitting at his desk in front of her.

“Sheriff,” Alyssa says calmly. “This is the woman you were looking for.”

“I’ll be damned.” The sheriff stands. “How on earth did you manage that?”

“I guess I’m tougher than I look.”

“Deputy!” The sheriff turns his head as one of the deputies steps out from the room that holds the jail. “Take this outlaw and put her in a cell where she belongs. Watch her. She’s a heathen.”

“Yes, sir.”

Emma gives Alyssa one long glance, a look that Alyssa knows says  _ ‘I trust you, but hurry’. _ The deputy grabs her by the arm and yanks her away from Alyssa, pulling her into the other room.

“Are you hurt, miss?” the sheriff asks, walking towards Alyssa.

“No, not at all.” Alyssa shakes her head. “Sheriff, I need to talk to you in private. You have to-”

“Whatever it is can wait, miss. Your mother insisted that whenever we had news about you, we tell her immediately. I’ll take you to her.”

“This can’t wait,” Alyssa says as she follows him out of the building.

“It’s most important that you get home safe.”

“I-” Alyssa bites her lip as they walk past a small group of people, afraid to speak in front of them.

She trails after the sheriff, mind racing.

She might need to adjust her plan.

* * *

“Okay. Okay. Okay, Mother, enough,” Alyssa grumbles as she pulls out of her mother’s grasp. “I’m fine.”

“I was so worried,” Mrs. Greene says, tears in her eyes as she looks at Alyssa. “Knowing you were out there with that criminal, that heathen, I-”

“She’s not a criminal. And she’s a magician, not a heathen.”

Mrs. Greene’s jaw tenses. “Ah, well, I’m sure you’re tired-”

“I’m not tired.” Alyssa turns to the sheriff. “How does a pardon happen?”

The sheriff blinks. “Excuse me?”

“A pardon. Getting rid of a crime. Whatever you’d prefer to call it.”

“It depends on the crime. If it’s something in town here, I’d-”

“It’s in Madison. A train robbery.”

The sheriff pauses. “The girl cannot be pardoned by anyone but the governor, miss. That train was shipping supplies to state guardsmen. It might not have been under their control when it was robbed, but they’ll want her head regardless.”

Alyssa gives a small nod. “Do either of you know the governor?”

“Well, ye-”

“What is this?” Mrs. Greene demands. “Honey, she’s a thief. She doesn’t deserve a  _ pardon. _ She should go to prison where she belongs.”

“Mother, please,” Alyssa whispers. “She was only trying to help people. She’s not a criminal. She doesn’t deserve this.” She looks at the sheriff. “You know me. You’ve known me my whole life. Please. Trust me.  _ Believe _ me. I wouldn’t ask you for this if it wasn’t true.”

The sheriff pauses for a long moment before sighing, taking his hat off and running his hand over his bald head. “Yes. I do know you.” He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, then sets his hat back on his head. “I’ll contact the governor before I tell anyone that I have the outlaw. If she decides to speak to the girl, we’ll see what happens. I can’t make you promises, miss.”

“Fine. I’ll take what I can get.”

The sheriff nods at both Alyssa and her mother, then heads out.

“Alyssa, you can’t be serious,” Mrs. Greene says. “You’re going to stand here and plead for the release of some-”

“I found Father.”

Mrs. Greene stops.

“He was in St. James. That outlaw you’re so set against helped me track him down. Which I’m sure just makes you more against her, because you didn’t want me to do that.” Alyssa looks up in time to see her mother flinch. “You knew, didn’t you?” Alyssa asks softly. “You knew that he was a magician. You were so determined to keep me away from him because you were scared that if I tracked him down I’d find out that I’m just like him.” She laughs. “Which is ironic, because I knew long before I found him.”

Her mother’s eyes widen. “Alyssa-”

“Don’t. Don’t say that you’re disappointed in me. I really don’t think I can hear it after my own father basically told me that he didn’t want anything to do with me.”

“I’m not disappointed in you,” Mrs. Greene says softly. “I just… I don’t want you to have a hard life.”

“It’s already hard, Mother.” Alyssa takes a small step forward. “That cowboy sitting in that jail right now? She’s the one who makes it bearable.”

Mrs. Greene swallows. “Okay,” she whispers. “I can’t say that I understand it, Alyssa. Not yet. But if this is what you need, I… I will try to do better.”

“It is what I need. Please. Trust me. It’s what I need.”

“Well then.” Mrs. Greene holds her hand out for Alyssa to take. “Why don’t we go see if the sheriff needs any local support in his letter to the governor? I’ve heard that he knows her fairly well, but it wouldn’t hurt to make it clear that I’m dropping the kidnapping charges against her.”

_ “Mother!” _

Mrs. Greene bites her lip and shrugs.

Alyssa sighs and shakes her head. “I’m never going to hear the end of this.”


End file.
